State Board invites communities to submit public education funding requests

Posted October 5, 2018

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) today issued a call for public education funding requests to inform the state’s fiscal year 2020 budget.

The state constitution mandates that the “primary responsibility for financing the system of public education” belongs to the state. Yet in fiscal year 2017, the state contributed approximately one-third of school districts’ revenues. ISBE advocates on behalf of students and families for fair and adequate funding. The agency relies on the voices of communities to ensure its funding recommendations match the needs of students.

Individuals should submit their funding requests by completing the form available at www.isbe.net/budget and emailing the form to[email protected]. State Board Finance and Audit Chairman Kevin Settle will facilitate three open budget hearings in Springfield, Mount Vernon, and Chicago to provide an opportunity for educators, advocates, and community members to communicate their requests in person. ISBE encourages all to share their stories and ideas on social media with the hashtag #MyEduBudget.

“We encourage everyone to submit comments and to speak at the budget hearings, so we can ensure their voices are heard and represented,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “The state’s budget is a manifestation of its vision. ISBE relies on stories and ideas from communities to ensure that we are in the best position to inform the General Assembly and Governor of the needs of all students in Illinois.”

The open hearings for the fiscal year 2020 budget for public education statewide will take place in:

“Submitting a statewide public education funding proposal to lawmakers is one of the State Board’s most important responsibilities,” said Settle. “We are most effective when we hear from diverse communities about what our schools need to take care of our students and improve outcomes for all.”

The State Board created a working draft of guiding principles for the Illinois public education fiscal year 2020 budget:

We believe that everyone has the right and ability to learn and that we have ethical, moral, and legal responsibilities to set high expectations and ensure that every student achieves success.

We believe that while racial disparities exist in virtually every key indicator of child, family, and community wellbeing and that individual, institutional, and structural impacts of race, racism, and other biases are pervasive and significantly affect key life indicators of success, these differences can change when directly addressed.

We believe that ending disparities and gaps in achievement begins with the delivery of quality early learning programs and appropriate parent engagement and support.

We believe that communities, parents, teachers, educational leaders, and community-based organizations have unique and important solutions to improve outcomes for our students.

We believe that teachers and leaders in every school and classroom in Illinois need to demonstrate competency in their content; their ability to adjust their pedagogy to student need; their ability to establish positive relationships with all students, including students whose background and life experience is different from theirs; and their understanding of human development.

The State Board finalizes its funding recommendations for pre-k through 12th-grade public education in January and submits them to the General Assembly and the Governor in February. Find information on past budgets at www.isbe.net/budget.